The purpose of this study aims to develop mathematics grit rating scale for primary school students and adopts clustering analysis to show the profiles of students’ features of mathematics grit. The subjects are 1151 students from third graders to sixth graders in Taiwan. The mathematics grit rating scale is five-points Likert scale. It consists of 8 items which measure two constructs of mathematics grit. The constructs are perseverance of effort (PE) and consistency of interest (CI). The Cronbach α is 0.816 and the internal consistency is acceptable. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) reveals that the data fit well in the two constructs. Fuzzy clustering based on the two factor scores is used to identify the clusters. Results show five clusters based on the criteria indices. The five clusters are: (1) low-PE and high-CI (2) low-PE and low-CI (3) medium-PE and medium-CI (4) high-PE and low-CI (5) high-PE and high CI. In terms of profile analysis, there are significant differences on the two factor scores among these five clusters. However, in terms of gender, it shows there is no difference on the two factor scores. On the other hand, it shows there are significant differences on the two factor scores among grade and tutor resources. This study reveals the profiles of students’ mathematics grit and could provide references for mathematics education. Based on the findings, the author puts forward some suggestions and recommendations for further studies.

Authors:
Yuan-Horng Lin, National Taichung University of Education, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Yuan-Horng Lin is a professor at National Taichung University of Education, Department of Mathematics Education. His research interest includes mathematics instruction and assessment, mathematics education, assessment and statistics.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Friday Schedule

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